Green Days’ Billie Joe Armstrong offers some advice to a new generation

Word of an upcoming Green Day-produced documentary regarding the East Bay Punk Rock scene has been floating around since back in 2014, but today Green Day’sBillie Joe Armstrong took to Instagram to confirm that a release is just on the horizon.

In case you missed the details the first time around, the documentary titled ‘Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk’ – directed by Corbett Redford – is said to tell the tale of the San Francisco East Bay Punk rock scene of the mid-80s and the emergence of bands from it such as Rancid, AFI and of course Green Day, featuring ‘150 interviews, footage from hundreds of live shows, and thousands of archival photos and flyers’ (as stated by the film’s official site).

But the documentary’s release is not the only thing Armstrong wanted to discuss.

The majority of his post was dedicated to addressing his younger fans and urging them to “f*** the old generation, start something new’ in a call to reclaim the Punk ideology rather than bow down to the ‘elder statesman”:

“Dear friends “f*** the old generation
start something new

we’re about to release a new documentary about east bay punk rock.. it’s a document about a time in our lives of being young. trying new ideas. and singing along together.. but just remember that this is the past.. if you get anything out of a documentary it should be to start something new and blaze a new trail. do not listen to any so called elder statesman’s opinion about what YOU are doing. most likely if it doesn’t make sense to the previous generation then they are too old to get it. and they allowed time to get the best of them.. and they have not earned your respect . I never want to be an elder statesman or royalty of anything. most likely that palace burned to the ground many years ago.. the future punks and poets are the ones that create something new. if there are young kids practicing in the garage, turn that garage into a gig and invite all your friends. if you have a microphone and GarageBand or a cassette tape. record it and make it your album.. if you get sick of reading about opinions and bands you don’t like, start your own fanzine and speak your truth. if someone tells you your not good enough. tell them they were never invited and do it anyway. many people have a war story but most of them have never seen war.. just be true to yourself. as I know you do.. I love all the Green Day fans because they have passion and desire to live life on their own terms. to be weird and loud and create something new that some people just don’t get. and therefore you inspire me more than you think. eternal gratitude rage and love BJ’

Perhaps more young Punk Rock fanatics should take heed. Punk was always about rejecting the past and looking to the future, so it’s ironic how it seems to have morphed into a historic monument in the eyes of the newer generation. Everyone has their influences, but it is better to use them as a base from which you can formulate your own sound and ideology rather than simply regurgitating the past. Perhaps the release of the documentary will help re-implement the taste for musical change and progression that was dominant when Armstrong was younger.